Benco Steel the company were we ordered our steel for framming the structure of the three trailers.

Check out the Paint Job!

Construction has begun!!

Its an very exciting time around the Senior Architecture Studio. Construction on H’s Stage has finally begun! A safe and clear site has been developed and the erection of H’s Stage is going full steam engines ahead. Designs have been finalized and materials have been critiqued and carefully chosen. The idea was to give the stage a strong, historic, untouched emotion with the feeling of belonging to the Valle Crusis community. Help us get the word out! Remember its amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit! 


~asu ArchStudio

Moving Foward!

Over the past few days we as a team have come together and began to finalize the construction preparations. From head butting critiques to break through realizations. H's Stage is on its way to  fruition! Here check out some of these photos and look forward to the next update!

Thrilling Update!!!

We are all very excited as a class to announce that the construction of H's Stage will begin on November 23! Preperations for beginning construction are taking place all this week, as all groups fine tune their work thus far. Moving from the design phase into the construction phase of this project finally makes it seem real, and it will be exciting to be able to use our own hands to put together this stage that we have designed. The construction phase will also require many photographs and quick updates, so be sure to continually check this blog page for process photos and descriptions! Update soon to come...

Time to Focus...

Fine Tuning

Hello everyone! While we are all still excited from the news of our design's acceptance by the Valle Crucis Community Park board, there is still a lot of detail work that all the groups in our class is catching up on. The marketing group has come up with a few donations for the project, which helps the final budget. They have contacted local supply businessses and have received some materials absolutely free and have been able to purchase others at discount prices. On behalf of our studio class, thank you to Becky Fry for the donation of lumber for use in our project. The engineering team is still working hard to finalize all of the load tracings on the structures, running numbers through equations every step of the way. They also recently took soil samples from different potential stage locations, in order to study the moisture content so that we can gauge whether or not the ground is sturdy enough to support it in a given spot. The physical models group is detailing the final small-scale models, as well as constantly changing the full-scale mock-up as small changes are made to the design. The digital modeling and documentation team is currently going through all of the construction documents for H's Stage, carefully dimensioning and labeling everything. Our estimating and budgeting group is still keeping in close communication with all other groups in order to ensure that the estimate stays as up-to-date and accurate as possible. The graphics team is fine-tuning the documentary that they put together, as well as redesigning presentation boards for the stage. Finally, our project management team recently put together a work schedule for the rest of the semester to ensure that everyone is staying on track to finish the project, as well as organizing class meetings continually along the way so that we can all keep up with one another. Check back soon for an update...

Presentation Photos

VERY EXCITING NEWS!

Hello everyone, I have some great news to share with you all this evening! Recently, on Monday, November 9th, our class presented the final design of H's Stage to the park board, and the design is a hit! That being said, we are now almost ready to begin construction! The design process has been a long and tiresome road, but now it feels that it was definitely worth every step we took along the way. The Valle Crucis Community Park board was a wonderful crowd to present to, and it was also an honor to have Ms. Mary Hazel present, wife of the late H.W. Mast. The presentation began with a short documentary on the process of finding a successful design for H's Mobile Performance Stage, which you can now watch right here on our blog, via YouTube. After the documentary concluded, our physical modeling group showed off their beautiful small-scale models of the stage and the site, which provided help to the board members in visualizing what exactly the stage will look like. The presentation also included bits from our engineering group, who put in a ton of research in order to make sure the stage was structurally sound, as well as putting research into photovoltaics for the project. We also heard from our estimating and budgeting group, who had laid out for the board members the final cost of the project without any donations, as well as the current cost with the donations at hand thus far. Our digital modeling crew showed the board through the park with H's Stage in place, so they could again obtain a better feel for how everything will look. This was accomplished via a digital walkthrough that the group compiled using various computer programs. The presentation was very exciting for us as students, and we would like to again thank the Valle Crucis Park board for all of their support and time. Stay tuned for updates!

Moving towards the finish line.

The studio pushing full steam ahead toward final preparations of the Valle Crucis Mobile Performance Community. A board meeting is scheduled for Monday November 9th at Appalachian State University. This will be the final presentation to the entire Valle Crucis Park Board. After the conduction of this meeting H’s stage shall be ready for construction! To make donations please contact Caroline Poteat 828.963.9239 Thanks.

Group Updates...

Hi everyone, it's time to fill you all in once again on all of the hard work each of the teams in our studio class is doing to complete the design of H's Stage. To begin, our Marketing and Fundraising team, along with the Project Management team, met with some close friends and relatives of the late H.W. Mast in order to obtain more information about his character. Through the passing down of stories, our class now has a better understanding of the great man that he was, as well as a better understanding of his personality. This knowledge will allow for us to better incorporate his spirit into his stage. Our Engineering Team has put a lot of research into the site modifications that will happen on-site at Valle Crucis park, and have come to realize just what a tough job they have cut out for them. Not only are they grinding away to find the proper site design, but they also are zeroing in on the proper sizes for all of the beams that are to make up the structure of H's Stage. Our Estimating and Budgeting group has worked very hard to get the budget to where it is, but just like every other team, they realize how much work that it takes to achieve precision. Therefore, they have decided to go to actual local supply vendors to check for the lowest prices...as well as check for potential material donations. Our Physical Models and Mock-ups team is continuing their hard work on a final scaled-down model of H's Stage, and on a wall-section mock-up that is nearly life-size. The Digital Modeling and Documentation team is finalizing our computer-designed model of H's Stage and Valle Crucis Community Park, which will show exactly how the stage will fit into the scene. At this point it is important to note another example of how our teams are all the time having to work together in unison: the Engineering and Digital Modeling teams have to make sure that they keep one another up-to-date on material/sizing changes so that they can be applied to the computer model. As you can see, it's a complex process, so check back very soon for more information!

Full-scale Mock-up

Mock-up of H's Stage

Think "Community"

It is time to take a quick break from the active work process and fill everyone in on where our class's inspiration for H's Stage was drawn from. Valle Crucis is a community that has built up its strength over the years through each of its unique members. Each of these members come together, and through a blending of all of their own individual backgrounds, they form the community of Valle Crucis. Three rivers, the Watauga River, Clark's Creek, and Dutch Creek, all come together to form a delta in the park. Our design for H's Stage consists of three separate trailers, each having their own unique characteristics, each serving their own purpose. When separated, each trailer will have its own name and its own use. The largest trailer will be the main pavilion, where the performances will take place, and it will be known as the Watauga River Pavilion. The next trailer will be known as Clark's Creek Concessions, and is a little smaller in size and will be easily moved a few miles around town for various events, including the Valle Fair. Finally, the smallest trailer will be known as Dutch Creek Storage, and will house storage for the other two trailers. So, just like the rivers in the park and the people in the community of Valle Crucis, each of the trailers in our design serves its own individual purpose and has its own individual traits. However, when they come together and connect, they form the mobile performance community of Valle Crucis Park, and become H's Stage...Stay tuned for progress updates!!

Class Meeting Reveals Remaining Loose-Ends

On Thursday, October 29, at least one member from each group in our class met in our studio to discuss the direction the project has taken. Our Project Management team organized the meeting in order to discuss where we are in the project, as well as the pace at which it is getting there. Once everyone was alert and in-tune with the meeting, ideas began to fly. We realized that although the design is where it needs to be, there are still small decisions that need to be made prior to calling the design complete. For example, none of us were anticipating that the number and the placement of doors would be a difficult decision. However, as soon as enough thought was put into the issue, it was realized that door placement in this particular design is highly important. After deciding on a door scheme, we discovered that the appearance of the doors is just as important as their placement, and so our Physical Models and Mock-ups team is currently critiquing door design ideas via small-scale models of H's Stage.Other issues brought up in this class meeting include, but are not limited to, the siding material and layout that will be applied to the structures, the placement and function of a concession window, means of egress in case of fire, and how to really incorporate local materials/appearance so that when H's Stage is brought into Valle Crucis Park, it looks as though it belonged there all along....That's all for now...keep checking up with us!